Many chemicals are causing health and developmental problems in lab animals, including cancer and liver damage.

What You Can Do

Read and listen to the news, to hear of new research.

Flame Retardants. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is moving to outlaw an entire class of toxic flame retardants, a policy change intended to protect Americans from chemicals linked to cancer, neurological deficits, hormone disruption and other health problems. The agency is warning the public about the dangers of chemicals known as organohalogens in baby and toddler products, mattresses, upholstered furniture and electronics enclosures.

Advocates and scientists noted the chemical industry has a long history of replacing harmful flame retardants with chemically similar compounds that later were found to be just as worrisome, if not more so.

Halogenated flame retardants also top the list of chemicals the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is evaluating under a new safety law that took effect last year. But even under the best-case scenarios envisioned by lawmakers, it will take more than a decade for the EPA to determine if the chemicals should be banned or restricted.

Meanwhile, consumers might find it difficult to determine if products contain the flame retardants at issue.Any manufacturer still adding organohalogens to household furniture must attach a warning label required under a California law prompted by the Tribune's 2012 "Playing With Fire" investigation, which revealed a deceptive campaign by the chemical and tobacco industries that led to the widespread use of flame retardants in American homes.

Government and academic researchers have found the amount commonly added to household furniture fails to protect people from fire in a meaningful way. (Source: Federal panel votes to warn public about flame retardants in baby products, furniture, by reporter Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune, September 20, 2017)

Car Seats. Over 150
children’s car seats were tested for chemicals in 2011, and test results
showed that 60% of them contained harmful chemicals that are linked to
reproductive problems, developmental and learning disabilities, hormone
imbalances, and cancer. http://www.ecocenter.org/healthy-stuff/

Formaldehyde. Be aware of
the dangerous levels of formaldehyde, a potentially cancer-causing
chemical preservative, that have been found in children’s clothes and
blankets imported from China. New Zealand and Australia are among a
growing number of countries which are rejecting or recalling Chinese
exports of blankets and children’s clothing. (August 2007)

Healthy Toys. View a list of hundreds of toys tested for lead, arsenic, mercury, bromine, cadmium, etc. at http://healthytoys.org.
Babies and young children are the most vulnerable populations because
their brains and bodies are still developing, and because they
frequently put toys into their mouths.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. View products that could be harmful to children and families (from toys to chairs and drinking glasses), at http://cpsc.gov/. Parents may also sign up to receive email alerts from this agency. 1-800-638-2772.